SOUTH BEND -- Scherezade García says her work "inhabits a baroque universe of different worlds of aesthetics and politics." Her colorful installation pieces and sketches on paper certainly suggest a world that is not our own. One might wish, however, for a bit more information about the universe her art inhabits for a clue to its significance. The exhibition at Crossroads Gallery downtown consists mostly of rough watercolor and acrylic sketches of strange subjects: colorful boxes floating on stormy seas, equally colorful doughnut-shape objects in equally gloomy surroundings, cherubic icons partially obscured by vigorous brushstrokes. Two installations -- a collection of vinyl boxes filled with tissue paper and a series of plastic-covered, child-size mattresses -- fill the floor space, and a trio of large digital prints of inflatable kiddie pools surrounded by paper airplanes and boats hangs on the far wall. García says her work is influenced by the "duality of salvation," and the concept of dichotomy and strange juxtapositions does come through in the exhibition. The slick, bright boxes are painted with cherubs and traditional religious symbols, and the mattresses are covered with the same iconography as well as plastic flowers, feathers and depictions of Bambi-like animals. Something is being said here, although it is debatable whether the discourse achieves enough clarity to express anything very specific. The vague language of García's statements undermines the impact of her work. Her "baroque universe" and "different worlds," her "allegories of history, power, love, and politics" tell us very little about her work beyond associating it with a plethora of contemporary art clichés, and the words distract us from the work's stronger aspects. García's sketches are vigorous; her photographic prints compositionally interesting; her installations evocative, if obscure. The work is formally engaging but thematically inscrutable, and unfortunately in this case, the words of explanation don't help much.